dave's first system

[dbowman5]

here I am , again.
I have added another current USA LED to replace the marineland LED. It is an older Orbit Marine v1 with a remote. i just matched the timer to the sunrise/sunset schedule on the other LED.
i finished the egg crate top by cutting the other side so that I can access the full length and clean the glass front without moving the lights
i updated my return line. i added a piece of 11/4" pipe to move the spraybar to the right end of the tank. I may adjust the orientation of the bar to aim above the horizontal to add more surface turbulence. right now it is just below horizontal.
finally i am monitoring a serpent star that i bought with some short arms to see if they are regenerating. fingers crossed.

as of Friday 4/30 i am getting additions to the tank. i have decided to bite the bullet on lighting. the rearrangement of the return pipe spray bar has increased the surface agitation and actually is splashing water up through the egg crate, getting the LED's wet. thanks to the live sale i have some corals coming and thanks to the club par meter i am aware that i am borderline on supporting them with the Current USA LED's. i have taken advantage of the Saltwater Aquarium.com 10th anniversary sale. To get a free shirt and a $25 store credit and some other stuff, i ordered a Red Sea mesh cover kit, some tools, some supplies, and 3 AI Prime HD 16's with gooseneck mounts. Happy Birthday to me
(a little early)

war coral, Ricordea, carpet anemone, branching hammer, Cyphastrea, aussie pipe organ

 

[dbowman5]

this morning i found out:

at least SW.com thinks i am a winner. and i found a freebie coral in my AquaSD box!! i will post a pic when it is done Acclimating and someone can ID it for me.lol

 

[dbowman5]

I was out and a friend called and left a message. He was doing some rehab work at a house near by and they had 5 assorted aquariums to be dumped and a larger one in the basement that would be cheap, was i interested? well, maybe. turns out there were a 10 gal, 3 20's and a 30. The one in the basement was a 75. no stands, and the 75, 30, and 10 were set up as terrariums. i took the 10, a 20, and the 30. all i could fit i my car. well the 30 leaked but looks to be in good shape so i am going to try silicone on the front bottom where i think it is leaking. I am going to take it to the back yard for leak determination before i silicone it. i was filling it downstairs when i saw water starting to come out; which did not seem to be the time to stand around inspecting the silicone, i emptied it and put the 20 in its place.
I have been using 5 gallon buckets for ATO reservoirs. now i have 10 gallons on the bow front and (temporarily) 20 gallons for the 75/55 system. if i went away for more than two days the 75/55 would be needing water, now i think i could be away a week. the bow front would last 4 days so I'm good for a week there too. Well i think the 75 is a pass but i am going back for the 2 20's.. while putting these in place i took down a 30 that i had set up as a time out/quarantine tank. it was next to the sump and i found out best practices for an isolation tank would not be closer than 6 feet from the main system because of the chance of aerosol contamination. that gave me room for the ATO reservoir.

here is my bowfront

a candid shot of the sump and temporary reservoir

a different view with the skimmer slop bucket moved out of the frame, but not the other clutter or wires made pretty

a full frontal of the 'fuge

and finally a shot of the return section and a little of the 'fuge showing the difference in lighting with the egg crate mounted on each side of the baffle. zero algae or other vegetation growing in the skimmer section with three outside walls covered with the background that was on the tank when it was freshwater, and covering the back of the return section and zero in the return section.
there are baby snails growing in the 'fuge. there are brittle starfish which are multiplying and migrating to the DT apparently through the return pump.

my haul from the live sale

one of my new Scarlet skunk shrimp, you can just see the antenae of the other one extending past the rock

an art shot of the GSP

a shot of my favorite and a ball anemone in the rock below it

My RBTA

a glamour shot of my toadstool

and a rare shot of my fish without the damsel being front and center. i think he is just visible on the left side between the rocks

favia platygyra as a freebie from AQUASD
ok some are out of order because i don't know how to insert them properly. by next year i will probably master that
and move on to taking good shots.

 

[dbowman5]

one shot of the front of the tank with more reflection than ideal.

 

[dbowman5]

today there was a QOTD asking if your "over flow was too noisy?": I said yes
and explained:
"when i drilled my tank, rimmed, i set the holes far enough down so that the inside box was below the rim; so that the holes were far enough from the edge of the glass to keep from cracking out. As a result of this the fall from the weir to the inside box water level is far enough to splash. I thought the splashing/gurgling noise would take place in my basement where the sump is. I just realized that perhaps an insert in the inside box: perf, mesh, or egg crate, might break up the waterfall. worth a try. ok, now i will page up to review your comments to see what else will work, lol"
Then, after reading the other comments:
I cut a piece of egg crate to the dimensions of my inside box and inserted it. Dead quiet!!!
the suggestion by some to use floss or foam worried some because of plugging with detritus. using egg crate does not pose that issue and can easily be pulled up for inspection!!
Also, I am using a piece of cross stitch fabric for the top of the inside box to keep climbers and jumpers out of the box since it did not come with a cover. two little pieces of zip tie through the corners to keep it in place prevent me from having to mold it to the top.

now all i hear are the pumps from the HOB filters behind me on my FW.

 

[dbowman5]

I went and got the two 20's. they are both good and one is in place of the leaking 20 on the 75/55. With a lid and using less than an inch a day, it will be giving me about 10 days of top off! woo! woo!; I seldom leave home for that long so I'm good to go.

 

[dbowman5]

well the corals are off of the eggcrate

and i think the krill diet has gotten the RBTA to the point of splitting

these pictures are from this morning and afternoon.

 

[dbowman5]

following suggestions i decided to put my skimmer on a timer. i have plug in timers in use so i am using one that gives me the ability to schedule half hour increments. i am starting with 9 hours off at night 6 PM to 3 AM to see how it goes.

 

[dbowman5]

So, I am a little freaked. i just looked into my DT and noticed something weird. i have a banded serpent starfish who has lost the tips of his arms. i am thinking stress of moving him to my tank from the LFS. just now one of the arms was inside of a ball anemone. i couldn't see what was going on until he retracted it and pulled it out of the nem's mouth.
i think it is a ball anemone. clear tentacles with light tan balls on the tips, some with a green tint light tan body that was holding onto the rock and being stretched as the star was pulling on its arm. as the arm popped out, the nem slid back to the rock hiding its foot. cant get a clear picture with my phone.

 

[dbowman5]

i foud this stock photo that is what i am seeing:

scared myself thinking it might be something worse

 

[dbowman5]

i have AI Prime lights on my DT i bought 18 inch mounting arms. i found out the 12 inch would have worked. So I bought 2. i have 2 lights over the left side and 1 on the right half. i replaced the two left side arms and they work great.

the remaining 18 inch on the right is curled around to reach the center.

 

[dbowman5]

some new pictures. the first is a bubblegum Digi, the second is a Nephthea

this is a monti that was almost gone before I upgraded the lighting

here is my favorite doing well

 

[sp1187]

today there was a QOTD asking if your "over flow was too noisy?": I said yes
and explained:
"when i drilled my tank, rimmed, i set the holes far enough down so that the inside box was below the rim; so that the holes were far enough from the edge of the glass to keep from cracking out. As a result of this the fall from the weir to the inside box water level is far enough to splash. I thought the splashing/gurgling noise would take place in my basement where the sump is. I just realized that perhaps an insert in the inside box: perf, mesh, or egg crate, might break up the waterfall. worth a try. ok, now i will page up to review your comments to see what else will work, lol"
Then, after reading the other comments:
I cut a piece of egg crate to the dimensions of my inside box and inserted it. Dead quiet!!!
the suggestion by some to use floss or foam worried some because of plugging with detritus. using egg crate does not pose that issue and can easily be pulled up for inspection!!
Also, I am using a piece of cross stitch fabric for the top of the inside box to keep climbers and jumpers out of the box since it did not come with a cover. two little pieces of zip tie through the corners to keep it in place prevent me from having to mold it to the top.

now all i hear are the pumps from the HOB filters behind me on my FW.

did the lower box level give you a lower water line than you want?

 

[dbowman5]

pictures after water change

 

[dbowman5]

well here is an adventure. 3/4 cup citric acid per gallon RODI in a bucket insert hydros wave makers turn them on and 10 minutes:

now leave them running for awhile and see. they were covered in algae including coralline, i thought i was going to disconnect them, but, video! meanwhile i can clean the glass where they were mounted. more later...